Tenken
by TBOtaku
Summary: Just a little fan fiction that I decided to write after being thoroughly productive throughout this ENTIRE month(Yey!!)...^^; A short story about Soujiro as a rurouni...If I get motivated enough, I might expand the plot into a full-fledged series!! Aiya,


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Tenken  
By TBOtaku  
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The girl, Kari, dangled from the precipice. She dug her bloodied fingers deeper into the soil, hoping, praying that she could somehow find a way to get up from here.  
  
"Gotta stay alive!" She gasped. "Oh, Kari, don't look down, don't look down…whatever you do, DON'T LOOK DOWN!!"  
  
She looked down.  
  
And screamed.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
The young man looked up; he was sure he had heard a noise. A scream? Yes, there it was again! With the speed and agility of a thousand cats, he extinguished his small campfire, grabbed hold of his bamboo staff and began to race through the lush forest toward that cry of distress.  
  
"I must get there in time," Soujiro thought to himself. He went faster.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
A small wolf cub reached its usual drinking place and began to thirstily lap up the clear, sweet water. Looking up, he saw a brilliant purple butterfly and immediately forgot his want for water. He happily chased the thing around, romping and ruffing with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind surged from out of nowhere and swirled around the pair, tossing the young wolf up into the air for a fraction of a second before dying away as quickly as it had come into existence. Landing softly upon the pine needles, the cub looked up in amazement, wondering what in the world could cause such a disturbance in his play.  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
Soujiro broke through the foliage and at once saw the bright fabric of a woman's dress. He rushed up a steep hill that led to the hanging woman. In a matter of seconds, he had reached the summit and was looking down in amazement.  
  
His half-second long scan had revealed two things: One, that this was a teenager, not a woman. And second, by looking at the strain of her muscles and the blood oozing out from myriad of scratches on her hands, she had been clinging to this ledge for at least an hour.  
  
"Ano! Miss, how did you manage to hold on for so long?!" Soujiro asked, simultaneously lowering his pole down to a place where the young woman could easily reach out and grab it. "Miss, please stay calm and grab this bamboo pole. I will lift you up."  
  
Kari looked up, wild-eyed. "How can you be so calm when I'm dangling a thousand feet in the air!!" she shrieked, obviously hysterical. Stubbornly she clung to the ledge, unable to do anything else. Fear sweat beaded at her forehead and she whimpered softly.  
  
Obviously this was not the time to tell her that it was only two hundred fifty feet. The young man swiftly bent down and grabbed Kari's arms, raising her up effortlessly and setting her down on the grassy hill.  
  
Out of her near-death experience, Kari squeezed her eyes shut and took deep breaths. A calming exercise, Soujiro recognized. This girl has a strong mind. He smiled brilliantly when she looked up at him and offered his hand to her.  
  
"It is a pleasure to meet you, miss. My name is Soujiro…might I be as bold as to ask of yours?" he said cheerfully.  
  
The young woman stared at him incredulously for a few moments before answering. "…My name is Kari Tomodachi," she replied. "You saved my life!! Doomo arigatou gozaimasu!!!! I must repay you for your chivalry!!"  
  
"Oh, it is not necessary!" Soujiro said, waving the offer away. "I seek not favors; just to be able to help people is my payment." He wiggled his fingers as if to reinforce the image of his hand for her, and this time she took it. Soujiro then wet a cloth with some water from his canister and made short work of cleaning and bandaging her thankfully shallow wounds. "They should heal within a week if you clean them every day," he informed her. "But miss! It is not safe in these parts; I will escort you home now."  
  
Kari frowned at him. "Call me Kari! Maa, you're so polite, Soujiro-san…Well, I live about ten miles away from here. Demo, what brings you to these parts? Are you visiting someone?" she asked curiously.  
  
He shook his head. "Iie. I'm a wandering rurouni."  
  
"A rurouni…We haven't seen your kind for at least twenty years!" she exclaimed. Then, as if reaching a decision, Kari clapped her hands together twice and took hold of Soujiro's arm. He cocked an eyebrow at her and she laughed. "Why, Soujiro, I don't believe that you are much older than me! You simply must stay for dinner, and I won't be taking no for an answer. You saved my life, after all!! I'll make you some of my famous tenken soup! They call it tenken because once you try it, you'll never get away!" the girl declared proudly. "Soujiro? How old ARE you, anyway? Soujiro?"  
  
Tenken… The young man's eyes darkened as he thought of the past. But all that was over now.  
  
Turning, he smiled again at the worried teenager. "Aa, I am sixteen," he admitted.  
  
"Sixteen! I'M sixteen! Wao!! A sixteen year old rurouni, how incredible!!" Kari hooked elbows with the surprised wanderer and began leading him towards her hometown. "Rurouni! I still can't believe it! You'll have to tell me about yourself when we get home!"  
  
Soujiro regarded her, amused. "I have a rather depressing past," he told her.  
  
"Che! Then you'll have to tell you about your plans for the future! Are you going to Tokyo or Kyoto or Nara of Nagasaki?? And what about food? What in the name of kami do you EAT??" Evidently Kari was not a shy person.  
  
"Hai, hai. I'll tell you about that, Kari, if you promise not to be disgusted when I'm done!" he joked.  
  
"If I were a rurouni, I certainly WOULD be planning on good times. I'd love to travel the world, but right now I'm focusing on my restaurant and saving money. When I get enough, I'm going to see everything! And I'll help people too, just like you, Soujiro." Kari sighed happily. "Tell me about where you've been while we walk. Ahh, now you've got me so excited about your present that I couldn't care less about your past!" she exclaimed.  
  
Soujiro smiled.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^  
Yes, yes; well, this was just a cute little story that I was inspired to write when I read "It has been a long five years of travelling... hard to believe I'm back here again where I started. But still, it seems just like yesterday when Himura-san defeated me in my room.' pondered Soujiro (formerly known as Tenken no Soujiro)" from Darcy-chan's fan fiction, Rendezvous!! Please read her fan fictions!! Also, I Wish You Were Here by Incubus motivated me until the end of my writing this fic!! Oh, I'm so happy!! This is the first short story that I've written in a looooooong time!! Wee~!! ^_^;; ^_^O" -TBO~~ (This fic was finished at about 3:30 PM (EDT) on Saturday, September 22nd, 2001!! BOY, I'm writing so much this month!! Yoshi, more to come, more to come!!!! Ahh, so hyper… woo~~  
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